Improved railway mail-bag receiver



G. D. EVERETT. MAIL BAG RECEIVER, FOR, RAILWAY STATIONS 0R CARS.-

No. 50,698., Patented. Oct. 31, 1865.

CHARLES D. EVERETT,

IMPROVED RAILWAY- PATENT OFFICE.

or CLEVELAND, 01110.

MA'lL -BAG RECEIVER.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 50,698. dated October 31, 1865.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, O. D. EVERETT, ot'Gleveland, in the county of Guyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Mail-Bag Receiver and Deliverer for Railway Stations and Cars; and I. do hereby declare that the following is a full and complete description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which Figures 1 and 2 are top views of the receiver in difl'erent positions, with a part of the frame of the car-door with which it is connected. Fig. 3 is a side view of the same. Fig. 4 is a sectional view.

Like letters of reference refer to like parts in the diflerent views.

My improvement relates to an automatic ar- ,,rangemeiit of devices .connectedto the frame.

hinged at one end by a shaft, 01, to eyes e secured in the frame, that support it, and by which it can be turned in and out from the car.

To the arm B at c is pivoted an arm, D. The inner end of this arm is curved round, as shown and indicated by linesj in Fig. 4.

c is a notch at the outer end of the curve, and J is a hook'formed at the inner end of the arm, on which is hooked a link, L, that connects the arm to a spring, H, or its equivalent, there being a hook, I, on the end of the spring for this purpose, on which the other end of the link is placed. -The spring H is secured at I to the side of thearm B. The arm B is slotted out, as at e, in a suitable manner to receive the inner end of the arm D, where it is pivoted to it. The outer end of the arm B, from where the arm D is connected with it, is grooved or cut out, as shown in Fig. 4, in which there is arranged a lever, 9, that is pivoted at 1'- to the arm, and the inner end of the arm is formed into a catch, i, that catches into the notch c in the curvej ot' the arm.

Underneath the lever is a spring, h, attached to the arm at the out-er end, and the inner end presses up against the lever soas tohold the catch 2" in the notch c of the arm, as shown and indicated by the dotted linesin Fig. 4. As the arm D is drawn out in the direction of the arrow ain Fig. 1 the catch moves round on the curvej until it comes to the notch 0, when itwill spring into the notch and the outer end of the lever will project out beyond the side of the arm, as represented in Fig. 1.

-P is an angular brace for holdingthe receiver in place as it is swung out for the bag. It is formed in one piece, and one part is put through loops 1) on the side of the arm B, and is secured by a pin, 0, or its equivalent through the end, or by any other suitable device; and to the outerpa-rt or end of the brace is attached .'a spring, a, that is between it and the frame on the inside of the car, a book, 1), being ad justed. 0l1.;thlS 8Hd. ofthe brace tokeep itin' place. By means of the spring n the action of the receiver is rendered more elastic, and prevents thejarring by the arm coming against the bag that would be produced if the brace were rigidly attached.

The manner of adjusting the receiver-to obtain the mail at railway-stations when the car is in motion is as follows: The receiver is so connected to the frame of the car or door by the shaft d and eyes 6, as before described, or in any other suitable manner, that it can be swung out at right angles to the car, as in Fig. 1, the arms B and D being first opened by drawing back the arm D by the hand-piecep into the position shown in Fig. 1 and indicated in Fig. 4, where it is securely held by the spring and lever. When the receiver thus adjusted is swung out the brace P is put in place on the side of the main arm B and inside of the car, holding the receiver in that position. Now, as the train moves -in the direction of the arrow a in Fig. 1, the mail-bag being suspended or hung out at the station on a straight pin that will present no obstruction to its being removed, the outer end of the arm B comes against the bag with so much force that the lever g is pressed in at the outer end, which disengages the catch 11 from the arm D, when the spring H will cause the arm D to clasp at once upon the bag, holding it fast. Then by removing the brace 19 the receiver with the bag can be brought round into the car and the bag taken out. The current of wind produced by the motion of the train would of itself cause the bag to swing round into the car. By this arrangement the bag is automatically taken from the mailstations on the railway andbroughtinto the car without stopping the train.

It is well known what difiiculties attend 0btaining' the mail at many stations where the cars do not stop". The person reaching out thearm and hand 'to receive the bag often receives such a jar, and requires such a straining of the body, being quite laborious, and the mail may be missed altogether, which difliculties will be entirely removed by the receiver.

The receiver can be changed from one side of the car to the other, according to the direction iu'which the train is running, by having eyes e or the same connections on each side of the doorfor frame of the car, into which thereceiver can be readily adjusted.

By means of the sprin'g-brace P the receiver 'is relieved of the jar and strain thatwouldotherwise be produced upon it by the concussion of the arm and bag.- I

The arms B and D of the clasp are corrugated or notched on the inner sides where they come together, so as to take better hold on the bag; and these arms, too, can be of anydesired form or configuration. They might be made-in; the shape of hooks or prongs curved so as to cross or overlap each other at the outer ends, clasping round the bag, and closed or brought together by a spring or its equivalent.

The receiver in all its parts, as constructed and arranged, is susceptible 'of various modifications without changing the nature of the invention. The receiver could be connected to the car so as to slide out in place of being swung round, and the end of the brace P-on the side of-the arm B might be made round, so that the brace, in place of being withdrawn, could be turned round 'so as to release the receiver, which, perhaps, would be more conventhe car, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. Automatically taking off from mail-stations on railroads the mail-bag and conveying the same to the m'ail-car while the train is in motion, substantially asset forth.

3. The arms B and D, the spring H, the

lever g, and spring h, or their equivalents, ar-

ranged substantially as and for the purpose described.

. 4. The brace]. and spring n, in combination with the arms B and D, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

CHAS. .1), EVERETT.

Witnesses W. H. BURRIDGE, A. W. MGCLELLAN'D. 

